1. Field of Invention
This invention is in the general field of casino gaming and, more particularly, is a variation of the game of Blackjack.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Blackjack is a card game typically played in a casino at a semicircular table. Usually, seven player stations are equally spaced near an arcuate edge of the table. On the table top near each player station is an imprint of a circle where a player places cheques representative of a Blackjack bet. The dealer is positioned near a straight edge of the table. The dealer faces the players.
Blackjack is played with one or more standard decks of cards. When the player is dealt an ace, it has a point value of either xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c11xe2x80x9d at the election of the player; a face card (jack, queen or king) has a point value of xe2x80x9c10xe2x80x9d and the remaining cards (xe2x80x9c2xe2x80x9d through xe2x80x9c10xe2x80x9d) have their xe2x80x9cpipxe2x80x9d or number value. The point values of cards held by the player and the point values of cards held by the dealer are, respectively, are added to obtain a player total point value and a dealer total point value.
After the cheques are placed within the imprinted circle, each of the players and the dealer are dealt a hand comprised of two cards. The cards of the player""s hand are dealt face-up. A first card of the dealer""s hand is dealt face-down. A second card of the dealer""s hand is dealt face-up. The dealer ascertains the point value of the face-down card without revealing it to the player.
When the player""s hand has a total point value of xe2x80x9c21xe2x80x9d, the player is said to have Blackjack. Correspondingly, when the dealer""s hand has the total point value of xe2x80x9c21xe2x80x9d, the dealer is said to have Blackjack whereupon the face-down card is turned face-up.
When the dealer has Blackjack, the dealer wins the Blackjack bet with two exceptions. The first exception occurs when the player has Blackjack whereupon the cheques representative of the Blackjack bet are returned to the player. The first exception is an example of when the player hand and the dealer hand have the same total point value and is referred to as a push.
A second exception occurs when the dealer""s face up card is an ace and the player posts cheques representative of what is known as an insurance bet. The insurance be typically equals one half of the Blackjack bet. When the dealer does not have Blackjack, the player loses the insurance bet. When the dealer has Blackjack, the cheques representative of the Blackjack bet and the insurance bet are returned to the player.
The insurance bet is an example of what is known as a side bet. Moreover, the insurance bet is traditionally the only side bet that the player may make. The probability is one in thirteen that the dealer""s face up card is an ace. Therefore, the insurance bet cannot be made very often. It should be appreciated that a variety of side bets that may frequently be made would increase the player""s interest in Blackjack
When the player has Blackjack and the dealer does not, the player wins the Blackjack bet. When neither the dealer nor the player have blackjack, the player has four options.
A first option is to have the player hand augmented by an additional card (referred to as a xe2x80x9chitxe2x80x9d). The player may have successive hits until the total point value of the player hand exceeds xe2x80x9c21xe2x80x9d. When the total point value of a hand exceeds xe2x80x9c21xe2x80x9d it is said to bust. The player loses the Blackjack bet when the player hand busts.
A second option is not to have the player hand augmented by the additional card (referred to as a xe2x80x9cstandxe2x80x9d). The player may stand at any time that the player hand has not busted.
A third option is available when the player hand is comprised of two cards that are a pair, such as a pair of queens, for a example. The player may split the pair into first and second player hands. An additional card is dealt to the first player hand and to the second player hand, each of which are played as described hereinbefore.
A fourth option is typically available when the player""s hand is comprised of two cards that have a total point value of either ten or eleven. The player is permitted to double the Blackjack bet and receive only one additional card.
The decision to hit or stand is made with an objective of causing the player hand to have a total point value closer to xe2x80x9c21xe2x80x9d than the total point value of the dealer hand without busting. It should be understood that central factors in making the decision are the dealer""s face-up card and the total point count of the player hand.
After the player stands, the dealer""s face-down card is turned face-up, whereby both cards of the dealer hand are face-up. When the dealer hand has a total point count of less than xe2x80x9c17xe2x80x9d the dealer must hit, until the dealer hand has a total point count of at least xe2x80x9c17xe2x80x9d. When a hit causes the dealer hand to bust and the player hand has not busted, the player wins the Blackjack bet.
When neither the player hand nor the dealer hand busts and the total point value of the dealer hand exceeds the total point value of the player hand, the dealer wins and vice versa. When there is a push, there is no winner; the cheques representative of the Blackjack bet are returned to the player.
Because the only side bet is the insurance bet, Blackjack may rapidly become tiresome to the player. The incorporation of side bets into Blackjack would increase player interest and, correspondingly, increase revenue of the casino.
An object of the present invention is to increase the number of side bets available to a Blackjack player.
According to a first aspect of the invention, prior to cards being dealt, a player is given an option of making a line bet that the face up card of a dealer has a point value of ten.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, prior to cards being dealt, the player is given an option of making any of a plurality of side bets relating to the player""s first two dealt cards. The side bets include a bonus bet that either one or both of the player""s cards have one of two predetermined ranks in a predetermined suit.
The invention gives the player an option of making a side bet in a Blackjack game at a frequency that is heretofore unknown, thereby increasing the interest of the player and revenue of a casino where the Blackjack game is played.